The "New Normal" Isn't Normal

The “new normal” isn’t normal, and deep down we all feel it. As society becomes desensitized to rage, violence, and unkindness, it’s easier to recognize the evil in others than the sin within ourselves. This episode challenges that reality and points to the true hope found in Jesus. Learn how He changes hearts and how sharing the Gospel can bring light and lasting impact to those we encounter every day as we near His second coming.

*Please take a moment to rate and subscribe to our podcast.

Merry Christmas to you and yours as we celebrate the Lord Jesus. 

Connect with us at: concerningthetimes.com

Transcript

Howard Green (01:04.302)
Hello friends, this is Howard. Welcome back to Concern of the Times. In this episode, we're going to talk about this subject, that the new normal isn't normal and why the love of many is growing cold. You think about what I just said a minute ago. The new normal isn't normal. That's a statement that we've sort of heard, least the new normal. We started hearing that during COVID, we would hear things like, normal isn't coming back. This is the new normal.

In our discussion today, we mean really even more than that. It's the fact that all this lack of love and love growing cold that we're seeing in our society, a lot of people look at that like that's the new normal. But friends, it's not normal.

And we're going to talk about today sort of why the love of many is growing cold. Not just Christian love, but this general human kindness, this capacity to love other people. Not just our families and our spouses and our kids and our other relatives, but this general human kindness and love for other people. It's waning.

And it's disintegrating right before our eyes. And friends, this is not normal. This new normal of vitriol and anger and hatred and I'm going to get mine and me before you, this is not. I mean, we've always had that, but this crescendo and this uptick and hatred and vitriol and violence is not normal. And we're coming towards a climax of human history. And I want to show you why in the Bible. So here we go.

As we enter the Christmas season, we're bombarded by horrific news. mean, you have a woman that's been doused by acid in a park in Savannah, Georgia, just doing her thing, walking or jogging around the park, and someone comes up behind her and pours acid over her head, and her glasses, her keys melt, and her clothes melt, and she's got second and third degree burns all over her body. And again, this is...

Howard Green (03:04.909)
human-on-human violence at just a whole other level. Then you got the two college-age kids that were shot and killed at Brown University just this week, a week before Christmas. And the families are grieving and the kids are confused and the perpetrator, this evil monster, is still out there. And then of course you have the...

the Jewish people and the other people there at the Hanukkah event there at Bondi Beach in Australia that were shot up by this crazy person, this terrorist who just wanted to kill people during a Hanukkah event down there in beautiful Australia. again, people would say, well, you Howard.

These are the worst of the worst examples. And I agree. But the hate is more of a systemic breakdown of this human love towards one another. The thing that we're supposed to have towards one another. I mean, it's so biblical. Love thy Lord thy God and of course love your neighbor as yourself. This is intrinsic in what the Lord has put inside of us, but friends, we don't do it.

Another perfect example of this amount of vitriol and heartlessness is, and it was shown by regular people after the murder of Charlie Kirk, it was just this onslaught, regardless of how you feel about Charlie, was this horrible onslaught of, I'm glad he's dead and he got his and yeah, we're gonna get them and.

That was evil. It was extremely evil and unfeeling towards his wife, towards his family, and towards anyone that values and loves free speech, right? But here's the thing. I would see people on the other side of the political spectrum, on the right, you know, we're gonna get them and we're gonna meet force with force and we're gonna show them and we're gonna... And I'm thinking to myself...

Howard Green (04:52.746)
Is that how you respond with violence? A lot of people claim to be Christian and claim to be spiritual, but the anger and vitriol was going the other way too. And here's the thing, I'm probably going to make some people angry when I say this, but here's the truth. Even President Trump's recent response in a tweet about the murder of Rob Reiner and his wife was another poignant example of the lack of human compassion and kindness in the midst of tragedy.

And it's a fact, friends. Like him or not, like the President or not, what he did was ugly and unfeeling and unkind. And the reality is, here you have Rob Reiner and his wife murdered and the President goes out and tries to make some kind political...

political statement with Rob Reiner's political leanings and all that. You don't have to like the guy. You don't have to like Rob Reiner. You don't have to like him when he starred in All in the Family or like him as a director or whatever, but that's not the point. The point, just like Charlie Kirk, Rob Reiner was brutally murdered and it should be condemned. Just the way that Charlie Kirk's murder should be condemned regardless of how you feel about the guy.

The president took the low road and did something very unloving and made a political statement. To me it's terrible, but it's just indicative of the way this world is getting. Okay, let's get closer to home and everyday real life. mean you can read through social media, right? And you can see the anger and vitriol is rampant. And it's not just from non-Christians, because even from so-called believers, you can see people that'll post about Jesus, they'll post about, know, he's my Lord, and next minute just fighting.

railing about friends stuff that's not gonna matter for eternity and that's reality. Again if someone's from a different political party or political persuasion you're the enemy and that's sad and they're here's the crazy thing there are thousands of videos displaying an uptick of human violence human on human greed and hatred and it's crazy I mean you can go on

Howard Green (07:04.142)
or Facebook or YouTube and TikTok, Instagram, anywhere. And you can see just this level of human on human violence and greed and hatred that is just unparalleled in history. What some examples of this? mean fighting because someone's a different color or religion or stealing because you have to have something or greed because

You care only for yourself, you deserve it. I mean, the conceit that we see, because let's face it, it's all about you. Here's another one, the disobedience because you don't have anyone to answer to. I mean, we're at that point now where people are filming other people getting up in authority figures' faces. Think about this, national leaders, law enforcement, teachers, bosses.

Parents, mean it's all the rage now on social media. I'm gonna tell them how it is I'm gonna put this on YouTube or or Facebook or or or tweet this out and it's amazing to me because you will see people

Throwing around cops and beating them up. Kids beating each other up on school buses. Growing women getting in fights in parking lots. People beating each other up. People getting knocked out on the street just so somebody can have fun apparently. People getting pushed onto subway tracks and commuter train tracks. Friends...

When we would see stuff like this, which we didn't see much of it years ago, people would respond. mean, here we are now. Here's the point. This normalization of unloving, uncaring, unruly behavior, it's indicative of the lateness of the time that we live in. And friends, we are living in the last days. I'm going to read something to you real quick.

Howard Green (09:04.174)
It's in 2nd Timothy, if you have your Bible, 2nd Timothy 3, 1. And a lot of you will know this verse, these couple of verses here, but I want to read it to you. And as I read it, I want you to think, and as I read it, I think, man, it sounds a lot like today. And I would say, yeah, you're right. Here we go. This is Paul writing, and he says, but understand this.

that in the last days there will be times of difficulty, where some translations say perilous times will come for people who will be lovers of self. How are we doing on that? Lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable,

Slanderous without self-control brutal and man we're seeing such brutality now, are we? Not loving good treacherous reckless Swollen with conceit lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God Some have the appearance of godliness, but denying its power The Bible says to avoid such people. It's amazing to me as we read these verses

that we've got to this point in history. And I know what some of you are saying. mean, you people would say, well, we've always had this. This kind of stuff has always been with us. And I'd say, yeah, yeah, you're right. Violence and vitriol and anger and hatred and disrespect, it's always been with us in human history. But friends, this uptick is the new normal, and it's not normal. You think about it. To conclude,

that things have always been like this and they're not getting any worse is to really ignore the words of Peter and Jesus and many others that warned that they warned that lawlessness would increase and love would decrease. And you think about in societal troubles increasing exponentially.

Howard Green (11:11.438)
geopolitical problems, natural and societal troubles. They go to this crescendo the Bible calls and birth pains just before Jesus returns. I'll read something else to you real quick. It's in Matthew 24 12 and I'll read this to you real quick. Think about it as I read about our days and because lawlessness will be increased, it's always been there, but will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.

and I want to read more but I put my finger there to make this point. That's the words of Jesus. It's not my opinion, it's not Howard's opinion or our ministry's opinion or anybody else's opinion. The fact is that Jesus said because lawlessness, disregard for rule, for law, for authority, for other people, because lawlessness will increase,

Disregard for God's law, for God's work, the love of many, this human societal normal love, human for human, even Christian for Christian, so called, will grow cold. And man, aren't we there now? Isn't there this hard edge to humanity? A polite society, all but gone.

love for other people. Isn't it all but finished? I mean we still have some of that. I'm not being a doom and gloomer, but the reality is the Lord said it. He said it's coming and friends I'm afraid we're here. And if you have your Bible you can turn over to, let's see, 2nd Peter 3.

2nd Peter 3, 3. 2nd Peter 3, 3. And I'll read that in just a minute. But the point I'm making is that people that say we've always had this stuff with us, it's not getting any worse, have to ignore the Bible and have to certainly ignore this verse. Ready? 2nd Peter 3, 3.

Howard Green (12:59.853)
Knowing this first of all that scoffers will come in the last days, so they're going come in the last days and they're going to say this, they will say, where is the promise of his coming, Jesus coming? For ever since our fathers fell asleep, ever since the beginning, all things have continued as they were from the beginning. For they deliberately overlooked the fact, Peter says, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water, through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that existed was

deluged with water, Noah's flood, and they perished. But by the same word, that the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

Well, friends, the fact is, things are getting worse. And when people say, you it's always been like this, they have to ignore the fact that, I mean, look, here we are. And you can...

Look on the internet, look on TV, just look outside of society and know that things are getting worse. mean, ask yourself if this is normal. Random people getting brutally attacked in public, women and children being stalked and trafficked and exploited en masse. I these are terrible things. Fights among kids in schools or on people in the streets where the vulnerable and elderly and women are being assaulted. Police officers being ambushed. And while all this is being filmed by bystanders for video,

and clicks. Publicly wishing or celebrating the harm and death of a fellow human being. Slandering other people for the whole world to see on social media. It gets worse hacking into bank accounts of the most vulnerable, the elderly, or people that are unknowing to enrich yourself. Turning a blind eye to the poverty of others.

Howard Green (14:54.669)
divorcing your husband or wife because you feel like you feel like it or you want to change or you want to find your make yourself new or find your new self. Is this normal? Is this normal behavior? Is this new normal behavior normal? Of course it's not. Of course it's not. So what can we do about it? If you're watching the video, I want to make something very clear.

the new normal that I've just described isn't going away. I it's a fact. If we're to believe the words of the Bible, things are going to get much worse. They're going to get a lot worse. And I'm not being a Debbie Downer, but I'm being truthful and warning you when I say this in all clarity that there's nothing we can do in and of ourselves or collectively as humans to change the tragic direction our society is going in. I mean...

people try to, we can't all vote the right person into the office to change things, into the White House or Parliament or over there in the EU. We can't spend enough money to end poverty because of greed. We can't rely on any superpower, including the United States or anyone else, to keep the world from war and to bring peace.

Friends, we can't even rely on regular human goodness to obliterate hatred because it's intrinsic in our nature. But there's something that we can personally do to give people hope that are around us. It's something so life changing that it will never be the same. If people understand what we have to say, their life will never be the same. We can give people a reason for the hope we have within us.

Even as the world goes into moral and societal collapse, into a moral free fall, we can and should share the saving power of Jesus with them.

Howard Green (17:02.901)
Even as the world is going into societal and moral freefall, we can and should share the saving power of Jesus with them. Here is the problem that every person faces. We see the evil in law-assisted society.

Think about it. How many times you turn on the TV, go on the internet, YouTube or somewhere, and you see that evil in society and people getting hurt and exploited and murdered and people getting their bank accounts built and people hacking into this and doing that and we say, that's horrible and that's evil and we're rightly concerned, right?

True, but what we fail to see is the real condition behind the issue, and that is the condition of the broken, sinful human heart. Friends, all the evil in the world doesn't happen in the vacuum. It's simply an outflow of what we already have inside each one of us, and will come out, if left to ourselves, in time. It not be robbing banks, or beating up old ladies, or doing the... It doesn't matter.

All sin is sin. All this evil and vitriol and hatred is from a wicked human heart that desperately needs salvation. Desperately needs actually changed. We need to have our heart literally transplanted. A heart of flesh for a heart of stone. And in and of ourselves, the Bible calls the human heart wickedly deceptive. And who can know it?

Again, like I said, we hate the evil that we see, but we're not even realizing, each of us, we're doing the very same thing to a holy God through our sinfulness. Most people don't see that. We're confronted with our sins and our hearts and our guilt before the holy, true God we have a choice to make. We can blame, shift, and deny, you know, I'm not as bad as Hitler or Mussolini or Stalin or the grouchy neighbor or the bad person down the road or we're not as bad as this person. We don't hurt babies.

Howard Green (19:08.369)
don't beat up old women and we don't rob banks or hack into people's accounts. But friends, that's blame shifting and denial. Because when you do that, you fail to see the condition of your own heart and me and myself and my own heart. And it's not what we should do. Rationalizing sin is a bad plan. It's only gonna lead you to eternal destruction. Not my words, the words of Jesus, loving shepherd from Galilee.

We can choose blame shifting and denial, or can choose repentance and forgiveness. As Jesus said it, the wide road or the narrow road. Friends, if we go out, here's the thing. If we go on living the way we lived, we have

no effect, no good effect on this world. As a matter of fact, we're just adding to the sum total of the evil that we're seeing. Yes, it may not be as evil as some, but it adds up. It still comes from the same place, a sinful, depraved human heart. So what do we do? Well, as Christians,

We need to go out there into the highways, and the hedges, the offices, our workplaces, the campuses, the high schools, the stores, the streets, and other places to compel people to come in. We've got to compel people to come in. And what does that mean exactly? That means to explain the gospel to them? Tell them about what it means to come to an interrelationship with Jesus, and to have your sins forgiven? What repentance, what true repentance means?

Some people will be compelled to come to saving knowledge of Jesus. Other ones won't do it, but some will. We do our job and we explain it to them. And of course we know it won't bring about a collective world peace, but what it's going to do is equip others who come to saving faith to go out and share the same good news about forgiveness and eternal life. Now, you might be saying, you might be saying, here's the paradox.

Howard Green (21:15.64)
And here is the absolute power of the Good News in a midst of a world growing more more unloving and hateful by the day. In a world where peace is elusive, Jesus said, you can have real peace. In a world with hatred from and for enemies, you can love your enemies. In a world where people want to harm one another and want to harm you, God will watch over you.

In a world consumed with worry about dying and where they're going to go after they die, Jesus gives eternal peace and eternal life. In a world where rampant loneliness is just all over the place, Jesus said, friends, He will never leave you nor forsake you. And I want to give you my thoughts on loneliness because here's what I've noticed over the years and especially recently. And with all people,

with all people really, but especially it seems like with our millennials, young people, high school teens, college age, young adults, friends, loneliness is rampant, and I know it. And this time of year, especially, really all the year, but especially at the holiday times and Christmas time, people are wrestling with loneliness. I know that.

You might be going through a hospitalization. You might be on a sickbed. You might have some kind of illness, whether it's just something that's transitional or terminal. You might be going through an unwanted divorce. Your marriage and your family just obliterated in front of your eyes.

You might be going through some abandonment or just a season of intense hurt and pain, whether it's physical or emotional, seemingly all alone. And I know as you sit here and you watch this video or listen to this podcast, you have to be saying, yeah, that's me. I am going through this and I feel like I'm all alone.

Howard Green (23:28.112)
friends the enemy of your soul, there is an enemy of your soul, just like you have a friend of your soul, and the Lord Jesus, there is an enemy who wants to steal, kill, and destroy your life. And He would tell you that you're all alone, you have no one but friends that's alive in the pit of hell. In your loneliness, I would plead with you to seek Jesus.

You can go to the Gospels, can go to any Bible online or a Bible on your phone. There's plenty of apps. Go to the Gospels, go to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and you can read about Jesus. is a true, the true living God, the Savior of the world. And friends, He promised us in His word that He would never leave us nor forsake us. You might be sitting there.

in your room and your home by yourself. Like I said, your marriage is dissolved. Your family lives far away and you're alone. You're going through some kind of sickness. Your personal finances has collapsed. Whatever you're going through, I can promise you, whatever you're going through, the Lord Jesus will meet you right where you are. Now didn't say that everything's gonna get better and you're gonna have the blessed life and the so-called blessed life and things will all of sudden be peachy again. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying

is in the midst of your trials, in the midst of your very real, tangible human problems, the Lord Jesus can meet you right where you are. Friends, He can be someone who sticks closer than a brother. He promised us He would never leave us nor forsake us. If you would ask the Lord into your life to be your Lord and your Savior, come to saving faith in Him. Not some blind faith, some blind trust based on actual biblical truth.

He will come into your life. He will make you new. He'll forgive every evil thing, every sin, every rogue thought, everything that you've done against the holy God of the universe and make you new.

Howard Green (25:25.732)
but you have to come to Him, you have to ask, you have to confess your sins, you have to come in repentance, which means I'm having a change of my thinking. I used to think I was right, and now I realize God was right, and I'm undone, and I'm sinful before a holy God, but thank you Lord, you sent your only begotten Son, Jesus, to come into this world, we're celebrating it now as a little baby.

to live a sinless life, to die on a cruel Roman cross, actual fact from 2000 years ago in Jerusalem, then rise from the dead, something that no other would-be God has ever done, and pay for eternal life and forgiveness of sins for you and for me. Frenzy did that for you. If you make Him your own, you could be in the most isolated part of the world going through the worst thing.

and he will be right there with you. No more loneliness because Jesus, the Lord God of the universe, is actually with you now. So, here's the point I want to make friends. He loves you. He died for you. That's really the message of the Christmas story. Jesus, the reason he really came, he came on a rescue mission to save sinners. And friends, I was a bad one.

And we all are without the Lord, amen. So here's the thing, as we wrap up this podcast and this video, this Christmas time.

video message this episode I wanted to you say well Howard what does this have to do with with love growing cold and and and and this new normal not being normal has everything to do with it because when you see the level of the evil that we have in the world friends the one thing that we can do we can't go out there and spread fairy dust over the world and sing kumbaya and we are the world and make the whole world good again but what we can do is we can

Howard Green (27:22.7)
ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, to be our God, and we can go out there and make a difference to each individual we come in contact with.

And friends, this is the kind of virus, this is the kind of beautiful thing that we have, a good virus by the way, that we can, this is the type of thing that we can take out into the world and spread to other people, share the good news with them, the gospel with them, tell them that Jesus came to save sinners, tell them your testimony. And friends, some will reject it, some will accept it, but the ones that do will come away with a brand new heart, they'll be full of the Holy Spirit of God living inside of

them and when they see all this evil and vitriol and anger and hate in the world, when a true Christian enters that situation, it may not end, but friends, you become light in the darkness. You become salt and light, preservative and light in a very dark world.

changing it one person at a time, one place at a time, and although it's not going to be completely turned upside down and made good again until Jesus comes back and rules and reigns on this earth, as Christians we are literally emissaries, ambassadors from heaven, going out and doing good works and spreading hope for eternity in His name.

So as the world gets colder, as the world gets more unloving, go out there and interdict hell, interdict darkness with light, in Jesus' name. And for those of you that don't know him, again, I would ask you, would plead with you to come to Saving Faith in Jesus today. You don't have to check your mind at the door, your intellect at the door, your personality at the door, he can use all of that.

Howard Green (29:13.327)
Because what I'm reading today and what I'm talking to you about today is very factual. Thousands of prophecies in this book, in this Bible have been fulfilled to the letter, to the T. Because friends, God's word is true. Put your faith in Jesus today. Put your trust in Jesus today.

friends, he will never turn you down. The Bible says he will not cast you away if you call upon his name. The Bible says everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Why don't you do that today? If you any questions about what it means to come to Saving Faith in Jesus, I'd love for you to...

contact me at Concernofthetimes.com, that's our website. Or you can go, if you're listening to my podcast, go down and find the links that way. Or if you're watching us on YouTube or another channel, you can go down to the comments, ask questions, leave information, leave prayer requests. I would love to hear your prayer requests, any of that, so that we can get in touch with you.

And finally friends, if this video has spoken to your heart, if it's something that has helped you in your walk with the Lord, or helped you have hoped, or in a seemingly hopeless season in life, and really in the midst of a hopeless world, I'd love to hear from you. And even more than that, if you would take a moment on the podcast to rate and subscribe to the podcast, that would really help us out tremendously. And if you're watching this by YouTube, to give us a like, give us a comment, and also hit the subscribe button.

Friends, God bless you. Have a great week. Have a wonderful, blessed, and merry Christmas. And we'll see you very shortly into the new year. God bless you. Take care. Bye-bye.